


The Chaos Theory

by Justletmein



Series: The Chaos Theory [1]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Bisexual Brunnhilde | Valkyrie (Marvel), Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), Humor, IronStrange, M/M, Multi, Past Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Pining, Post-Black Panther (2018), Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Civil War (Marvel), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Slow Build, Slow Burn, Thruce (implied)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-20 07:16:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15529029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justletmein/pseuds/Justletmein
Summary: Have you ever heard about the theory that a single occurrence, no matter how small, can change the course of the universe forever? This is how “what ifs” open the doors to a whole new range of possibilities, of alternatives.Let me give you an example, what if Thanos didn’t get the Space Stone in the first place? Would Iron Man and Doctor Strange still meet? And even if they did, why should everything else remain the same? What if there was something more in their relationship that just didn’t get the chance to start? What if?





	1. When a Butterfly Flaps Its Wings

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Once again, I thank [TameAVagrantLion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TameAVagrantLion) for beta reading this first and make it readable!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

It all happened too fast. One minute he was talking with Pepper about some boring meeting they had to attend, the next there were alarms ringing through the building as FRIDAY’s voice announced that they had visitors from outer space.

As one could expect, it had to be in a moment like that, that Tony had to feel the weight of that hideous flip phone he always carried with him. How long has it been? One… no, almost two years now. He had to make the call.

But he didn’t want to make the call.

“Boss, I have detected some signals coming from the unidentified ship. Should I try to reproduce their message?”

“Go ahead,” he answered, not sure of what to expect.

“This is the Asgardian refugee vessel. We are preparing for landing. I repeat, preparing for landing. Our crew is made of Asgardian families, we have very few soldiers here. This is not a war craft, I repeat, this is not a warcraft.”

Tony cursed as he recognized that voice.

Just what he needed.

 

***

 

After a few calls and the rent of several airstrips, something you could call “the perks of being a billionaire”, everything was set and the spaceship was able to land.

“Stark, long time no see,” smiled Thor as he made his way out of the spaceship followed by his people.

“What happened to you?” asked Stark, unable to ignore the missing eye, or at least that was until he saw another familiar face come into view.

“Oh, yeah, a new haircut… I’m still getting used to it,” was answering Thor, unaware of how he was being completely ignored by Tony, who immediately went to greet Bruce.

“Where have you been? I have been trying to reach you since… Wait, are those my clothes?”

“A lot has happened, and believe me, Tony, I would like nothing more than telling you about how we flew The Orgy through The Anus, but right now I need you to listen to me-”

“Yeah, I shall ask you one last favor, it’s nothing really…” started Thor again, smiling until he saw something that made Tony turn once again back to the ship.

“Is that Loki?” it wasn’t really a question, as he could clearly recognize said man while he walked being escorted by a woman wearing a white armor.

“You were supposed to wait inside,” said Thor making a face.

“Surprise,” smiled the God of Mischief as his companion rolled her eyes.

“I think he is the least of your problems right now,” said the woman crossing her arms.

“Oh, really? He already tried to invade us once… Thor,” he turned to the god, but then thought better about it, “no. Bruce, what were you thinking when you brought him here?”

“Hey,” protested Thor, “I know this may seem sudden, but we are on good terms now. Right, brother?” he asked, again not being paid much attention with the exception of the eye roll he got from his brother in response.

“Like I said, I would love to tell you about… well, everything. But we don’t have time!” insisted Bruce looking up to the sky with a scared expression.

“What do you mean?”

“When we were leaving Asgard, a gigantic ship appeared and was about to attack us. If it wasn’t for Heimdall, we wouldn’t have been able to escape,” explained Thor with pride as he patted the shoulder of whom Tony assumed was said man.

“It wasn’t me,” replied Heimdall, “I didn’t teleport us here”

“Then who was it?”

“I believe I got the answer,” said a voice coming from a golden circle. Everybody took a few steps back as a pair of weirdly dressed men came from inside it. One of them made gestures with his hands and the circle disappeared.

“Ah, wizard. It’s been a while,” greeted Thor smiling, yet Tony noticed how Loki changed into a more defensive stance, like he was ready for a fight.

“A while, yes. If I remember correctly, last time we talked we agreed that you and that adopted brother of yours would leave to Asgard, and I assumed that the arrangement would be a permanent one.”

“Did we? I mean, we sure went there, but… there were some minor complications.”

“How so?”

“Excuse me, yeah… Sorry to interrupt but, who are you?” Tony interjected in an indignant voice.

“Oh, excuse my manners. I’m Doctor Stephen Strange and he is Wong. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tony Stark,” he said in a dismissive tone. “Now, care to explain what is going on?” Thor was about to answer when he turned back to the increasing number of Asgardians that left the ship, as well as some other weird looking… aliens?

“First, my people need to rest. We have come a long way and need to gain force if there is a new battle lurking.”

“Dumbledore has a point though, I need some explanations too,” interjected Tony looking towards Pepper, “could you please guide them to the main building and make sure they receive proper food and medical attention”

“Sure thing,” smiled the redhead giving the group one last look, “I suppose you will join us too”

“We should probably speak somewhere more private,” said Strange, who once again made gestures with his hands and suddenly they were all sitting down in comfortable sofas.

Without missing a beat, Bruce proceeded to tell them about the giant and threatening ship that was preparing to attack them, which Loki identified as one of Thanos’ ship, and soon were Wong and Strange introducing them to the Infinity Stones and the danger they posed.

“So I’m supposed to believe that you are not a bad guy because this Thanos’ guy was the one who send you to attack us? This is great. No, really, this is just what I needed,” it hadn’t really taken long before Tony became unable to stay still and instead stood up and began pacing through the room. He only did stop when he noticed Strange being, well, strange. The man, sitting in a lotus position, had his head moving in different directions, sometimes seeming like it was in more than one place at once. “Strange! You all right?”

“Yes. However, it seems that Thanos already has the Power Stone.”  
“Right, but you told me there are six stones, right? So if Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down the garbage disposal?” he said signaling towards the necklace where Strange said to have one of them.

“No can do,” answered the man pushing his hand away.

“We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives,” explained Wong noticing the tension that had been building between those two.

“And I swore off dairy, but Ben & Jerry's named a flavor after me, so...”

“Stark Raving Hazelnuts,” remembered Strange glaring at him.

“It's not bad,” was his answer, not backing down but instead returning the glare.

“A bit chalky.”

“A Hunka-Hulka Burning Fudge is our favorite,” added Wong, although he knew that his attempts to calm them were futile.

“That's a thing?” asked Bruce clearly confused.

“Oh, I remember, ice cream, wasn’t it? How is mine called?” questioned a really curious God of Thunder while his brother murmured something under his breath.

“Whatever. Point is, things change,” Tony said after a tired sigh.

“Our oath to protect the Time Stone cannot change. This Stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos,” replied Strange.

“And still conversely, it may also be his best chance against us!”

“Only if we don't do our jobs.”

“What is your job exactly, besides making balloon animals?”

“Protecting your reality, douche bag.”

“Okay guys, can we quick cable this discussion right now?” interrupted Bruce this time, being silently blessed by Wong and probably everyone present. “The fact is we have another stone. We know where it is. Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind Stone.”

“And the Space Stone was destroyed in Asgard,” as soon as he spoke those words, all eyes went to Thor.

“And you decide to mention that just now?” Tony asked incredulously.  
“Well, it was pretty amusing watching you two argue…” he began to say, clearing his throat when he noticed the annoyed expressions he was receiving, “what I meant to say, is that if it was destroyed then we don’t have to worry, right? Now, we can focus on building a new place for my people and…”

“He doesn’t know?” interrupted Strange, his eyes not focused on Thor anymore but on his brother instead.

“What? Why are you staring at me like that? No offense, but the fact that we both practice magic doesn’t make us inherently friends, you understand?”

“You did mention you didn’t know how you got here, if I remember correctly,” he turned briefly towards Thor, only to see how realization struck his face.

“Loki…”

“Well… ‘destroyed’ is a strong word…” he started saying as Thor grabbed him by his collar, “okay, take it easy, brother. I was planning to mention it… at some point,” he said making the Tesseract appear, which was taken away from his hands by his furious brother.

“I knew I should have kept you away from Earth. Now there are three Infinity Stones here… it’s only a matter of time before Thanos comes and finds us,” muttered Strange. “You and all your people should go.” 

“But isn’t it good? We can just destroy it like we originally intended and everything will be okay, right?” intervened Bruce smiling awkwardly.

“He has a point, we may not destroy your stupid stone but we might as well destroy this one,” agreed Tony.

“Except there is another problem. We don’t know much about its composition. Such items surely require some kind of energy very similar to their own to be destroyed,” explained the doctor.

“I could give it a shot,” declared Thor while letting his brother go to examine the Tesseract, “it might be harder to concentrate all my power towards it without my hammer, but…”

“Right, and if not, Vision technically is one, or at least partly… so he should be powerful enough out,” reasoned Bruce as he measured all the alternatives inside his head.

“Yeah, that's the thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder. He's offline.”

“What? Tony, you lost another super bot?”

“I didn't lose him. He's more than that. He's evolving.”

“Who could find Vision, then?”

“Probably Steve Rogers.”

“Oh, great,” murmured Strange increasingly annoyed, just what he needed.

“Maybe. But...”

“Call him.”

“It's not that easy. God, we haven't caught up in a spell, have we? The Avengers broke up. We're toast.”

“Broke up? Like a band? Like The Beatles?”

“Cap and I fell out hard. We're not on speaking terms.”

“Oh, you broke up… I know how hard it can be, I mean, Jane and I also broke up… mutually, but still…” commented Thor patting Tony’s back, “you’ll be alright”

“Tony, listen to me. Thanos is coming. It doesn't matter who you're talking to or not,” continued Bruce nodding towards the blond.

“Oh, right, there is also that,” agreed Thor.

“Well, why don’t we start by this then? I mean, there is nothing I would love more than watching all your melodrama unravel, but Thanos is indeed coming and believe me, you want to be prepared,” interrupted Loki with unexpected seriousness.

“Let’s destroy this Stone then!” smiled Thor, “come with me Banner, maybe I will let Hulk help.”

“You two should just get a room,” commented Valkyrie, as she had been introduced to them, while pulling Loki to also come with them. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who didn’t trust the god.

“You know he’s right, though? Even if they accomplish to destroy the Stone, Thanos is still coming and we might as well get all the help we can.”

“I think we will manage.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * We will just assume that after the Space Stone failure, Thanos and his children will need more time to regroup and attack. But they are still coming to Earth… That damned grape.  
> * According to MCU wikia, in the comics, the Space Gem increased the speed of its user and allowed them to be teleported wherever they want. So I will assume the Space Stone can also do something similar to that.  
> * Of course, Loki is my beautiful butterfly.
> 
> Please let me know what you think :D


	2. The Butterfly Effect

It wasn’t long before the Children of Thanos appeared but somehow, in the middle of the battle, Thor managed to break the Space Stone while Tony, Hulk, Wong, Strange, Valkyrie and Loki, as well as a very nosy Spider kid who decided to join them, were able to defeat them. Tony hated to admit it but Strange did know what he was doing when he fought, and he did actually listen to him when he needed help to evacuate the area… although the winking was very uncalled for.

“You loved it,” argued Pepper with a funny look on her face as he finished retelling their misadventures of the day.

They fought, they won, and one of the Infinity Stones was gone… which had felt odd. None of them were sure why but the moment it was destroyed a strong wave of energy pushed them back and once it was over, they all felt a deep sense of relief. Even if they couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going to happen if Thanos got all the Infinity Stones… now, that possibility was gone. Yes, he still had the Power Stone and they still had to make sure he didn’t gather the other stones. But this victory had already changed the course of the war towards something completely different.

They actually had a chance.

“That’s not true!” he said knowing that his silence would only convince Pepper even more of whatever she was insinuating.

“I dunno, it did seem like there was something going on between you two during the fight,” commented Peter with an expression way too similar to Pepper’s one. He shouldn’t have let those two spend so much time together.

“Why the long face? We should celebrate!” interrupted Thor and he didn’t need to see the big glass of beer to notice how he had been drinking to his heart’s content. It was written all over his face.

“Wait, where did you get that?” yes, they had regrouped with the rest of the Asgardians after the fight and headed towards the Avengers compound, but he never stopped to buy beer nor saw anyone do so, and the place was quite abandoned. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if it could be called the “Avengers compound” anymore. Not after everything that had happened. Well, now that Bruce and Thor were back it kind of felt like the old times… except there were still some people missing.

“You should ask Strange. Wizard or not, the man has some good tricks,” he said laughing a little bit. How much did he drank exactly? “You too!” He added noticing Pepper and Peter.

“No, no. Beer is off limits for the kid.”

“Come on, Stark! I’ve probably drank beer when I was half his age!”

“Yeah, well, things work a little different on Earth.”

“Oh, come on! Valkyrie, you agree with me on this one, don’t you?” called Thor and, to Tony’s surprise, the woman walked towards them looking even drunker than him.

“Sure, sure… Hey there, Red,” she said smiling to Pepper.

“Yeah… I probably should go. Some people have to work tomorrow,” commented the redhead ignoring the flirty glances she was receiving. “Should I drive Peter back home while I’m at it?”

“That would be great,” said the billionaire, noticing just then that the kid had left. Luckily he wasn’t far, but somehow managed to be holding a conversation with the worst option possible, “hey, hey, back off!” he said pulling Peter away from Loki, “don’t you think for one moment that just because your brother says you are on our side, I trust you. And certainly you are not trusted to be close to the kid, clear?”

“As crystal,” said the man raising his shoulders, “but just so you know. Your child was the one who came to me with all his questions.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he did,” he answered sarcastically, thought he couldn’t help but give the boy a warning look.

“But he’s on our side now,” he managed to say.

“You don’t know him, ask anyone here and they would tell he is not to be trusted… Well, except for Thor, but he is biased.”

“Oh no, I fully agree with you on that one. Never trust Loki,” chuckled the man, “but, he _is_ on our side.”

“Like I said, biased.”

“I’m sorry Tony but I have to back Thor on this one. Loki is on our team… Yes, he did lie about having the Space Stone and probably put something on the soap because I haven’t stopped feeling itchy since the shower… but the point is, he fought with us against Hela and he sure wants as much as we do to defeat Thanos,” intervened Bruce.

“Right… sure,” he said clearly unconvinced, “you really have to tell me in detail what happened to you when you were gone.”

“Although it’s possible that your trust issues take root on something completely different, you do have a point,” said another voice.

“Doctor! I never thought I would say this but I’m glad you decided to join us,” he said making an effort to ignore the face that Pepper made as she left with Peter. Unbelievable.

“However, it’s true that the situation calls for desperate measures,” at least he seemed to be suffering as he said that, “but as soon as Thanos is defeated, you have to go.”

“Didn’t I mention it? Asgard is gone,” informed Thor without losing his smile, although that sounded pretty serious.

“I don’t care where as long as it’s as far as possible from here.”

“Well then, if Loki has to go, I shall go with him,” declared Thor. No doubt his statement sounded a lot more dramatic now that he was wearing a patch.

“Brother, although I appreciate your offer-”

“Wait, what? And who is going to take care of all your people, cause I sure as hell won’t,” interrupted Tony, gaining a glare from the blond.

“But you said-”

“I agreed to help you to get a place and settle in, but that’s it.”

“Tony…” Protested Bruce looking between his two friends.

“Then you should all go,” simplified the doctor.

“Really? That’s your solution to all of this?” questioned Tony turning towards him in disbelief.

“I told it to Odinson, and I tell it to you. I keep a watch list of individuals and beings from other realms that may be a threat to this world, and Loki is one of those beings.”

“Yes, but this is not just Loki you are vanishing. These are people, families,” he said making a gesture towards where the rest of the Asgardians were reunited, luckily too distracted with the food and the drinks (still don’t know where they got them) as to notice that their fate was being discussed.

“Guys…” called Bruce. If he thought things were getting intense between Thor and Tony he was wrong, at least they seem to notice when other people were talking to them.

“Maybe you should check your priorities again,” stated Strange, his eyes never leaving Tony’s gaze.

“Oh really? Says who?” was his defiant answer.

“Guys!” he could almost swear that if he had to shout any louder he would turn into the Hulk, “we can decide that later, okay? For now, we should focus on Thanos.”

“Right. About that, I have been doing some thinking and maybe is time we visit Nivadellir.”

“Yes! No, wait. Nivadellir?” repeated Bruce turning towards the blond.

“Yes.  Only Eitri the dwarf king can make me the weapon I need. Thanos might be getting another Stone as we speak. If he is successful, he might become too powerful to stop, even for me.”

“But… you can’t go. What if the Children of Thanos attack you on your way?”

“I will go with him,” declared Valkyrie, “but tell Red that I will come back for her.”

“Me too,” said Loki, “at least that way you might get some sleep,” he added mockingly.

“Really? I would expect you saying something along the lines of ‘staying to rule our people’ or something like that,” smiled the blond.

“What can I say? Maybe this is my chance to prove to them that I’m not their enemy,” he said earning more than one look of disbelief.

“For now,” added Tony, and he couldn’t help but notice how Strange nodded silently.

“Okay, I will prepare the ship along with a few chosen ones to be part of my crew,” decided Thor clapping his hands, “meanwhile, you should speak to Captain America so he can find Vision.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s necessary or is it?”

Both Thor and Bruce exchanged looks.

“Okay, Tony, you don’t have to call him if you don’t want to,” said the scientist carefully, “but given the fact that he’s our best shot at finding Vision, somebody has to do it. Okay? You just have to tell me how I can reach him.”

Tony sighed. Without looking at any of the people present, he took out a flip phone from his pocket, handed it to Bruce and left the room without even saying a word.

“You always carry that with you?” mocked Loki gaining more than one glare, “what? I’m just asking what we all were thinking,” he noticed then how Strange seemed to be having an argument with his cloak. Some kind of mythical artifact, he guessed.

“Ugh, fine,” muttered the doctor going after Stark. Again, a guess. However, he couldn’t discuss his observations as his fellow allies were already submerged on their own conjectures.

“Given the circumstances… do you think I should tell Cap to join us after he finds Vision?” asked Banner with worried expression.

“I don’t see why not. I’m sure that if they talk they can fix whatever happened between them. Believe me, on my time on Earth I have seen some of your movies and there is no love quarrel that cannot be fixed with some talking… although we should probably leave them alone to do that as those talks often lead to… fondue.”

“What?” asked Bruce confused.

“What? Captain America once used that term to describe how a man and a woman…”

“Okay, I think I got the picture,” interrupted the scientist, knowing that Thor could be quite unfiltered about the subject… and there were Asgardian children present.

 

***

 

 “I should have guessed that I would find you in a place like this,” said Strange entering Tony’s workshop, full of amours in different stages of building.

“Don’t know why you would want to find me in the first place, Gandalf,” was his answer, too focused on whatever he was building to bother to look at him, “what do you want?”

“A truce.”

“A truce?”

“I admit I might have been rash to judge you…”

“So that’s what you were doing all this time? I didn’t realize!”

“Sarcasm won’t get you anywhere, Stark.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere, I just want _you_ to leave.”

“Perfect, we both agree,” but once against his cloak stopped him from actually leaving the room. He sighed, “listen, about that truce…”

“You want me to convince the others to get rid of Loki? Don’t worry, I’m all for it.”

“I know that,” he stated, deciding to address the elephant in the room, “what I don’t know is if you are letting other personal matters affect your judgement regarding our best course of action.”

“I’ve already let Bruce call Cap.”

“Yes. But, are you aware that we might need a little more help than that? As far as I know, not only would he be a good asset for fighting Thanos but also happens to be in contact with other ex-Avengers such as Black Widow, Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch. All of whom would also make excellent allies for the fight.”

“Yes.”

“Yes?” he repeated raising an eyebrow.

“I know we need them!” Tony finally snapped turning towards him, “as I also know that they won’t listen to me if I asked! I know they… no, not only them, I know that _we_ need a leader and that that leader is Cap!”

“Yeah… about that… I just want them to join this fight, then they can go back to being fugitives or whatever they want,” the doctor said dismissively, “we are not in need of a leader, we have-”

“If you say ‘a Hulk’ I swear to God…”

“-you,” he finished matter-of-factly.

“That’s not-“

“No, you listen to me. The first thing you did when the Children of Thanos arrived was help the people evacuate and make sure everyone was safe. As far as I know, that’s what a true leader does,” he said looking directly into his eyes. Tony could swear that that gaze could stop someone’s heart, “and no, I’m not saying it just to ‘boost your ego’, you don’t need me for that,” Tony laughed. It was nice to laugh after being told something like that.

“You know? You are not as bad as I thought.”

“Same goes to you, Stark,” he said returning the smile, “you are worse.”

“Oh, yeah, much worse.”


	3. Hurricane

They were walking to the compound after meeting for breakfast. Apparently, you could still do that with an alien invasion looming over your head. There were no news from Thanos nor his Children, but Rhodey had contacted them that morning announcing they were heading to Wakanda to try to take the Mind Stone from Vision’s forehead without damaging him. Given that Wakanda had even better technology than him (or so they had said), he and Bruce were going to join them there to give a hand. Also, while Wong decided to leave back to the Sanctum, Strange decided that the more people they had to help them in case Thanos decided to come for the Mind Stone, the better. Finally, Thor was leaving that morning with his crew to get some kind of powerful weapon he never finished to explain. All in all, everything was going fine.

“These are great! We should definitely have some as part of the catering for our wedding,” commented Tony munching his donut happily.

“Yeah, about that… I’ve been doing some thinking and maybe we should suspend the wedding,” how could she say something like that in front of his donut?!

“What?! Why? I had it all planned. We marry, I die fighting for some heroic cause and then you get everything just like that,” he said snapping his fingers.

“I think I prefer you take better care of yourself and stay alive… And most importantly, I deserve something better than a fake marriage-”

“Yeah, I know, and you’re right, but hear me out. Once I’m out of the way-”

“And you too.”

“What?”

“You are always so hard on yourself. Why can’t you just find someone you truly love and be happy?”

“I think you already know the answer to that.”

Pepper sighed.

“What happened with Rogers doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be loved.”

“Maybe, but it makes clear that whenever I trust someone like that, I get hurt! Oh God, maybe Strange was right about that one… I _do_ have trust issues…”

“Tony, listen to me. Do you trust me?”

“Yes, but-”

“And Rhodey?”

“Yes…”

“I know this is not the kind of trust you mean, but don’t you think that if that is possible there is also a chance that there is someone out there to whom you can also trust your heart?”

“I think I’ve already assigned that to you.”

“Yeah… I’m glad I won’t have to do that ever again,” she said tapping his chest, “and don’t change the subject, you know what I mean.”

“Maybe. But I need time.”

“It’s been two years.”

“And opposite to this conversation, it didn’t feel like it at all,” he said practically rushing towards the door.

“Tony…” called Pepper, refusing to run after him.

“Maybe I’m just like this donut, perfect the way it is,” he added turning to look at her while raising his shoulders.

“Do you want some coffee with that?”

“Yes please,” he said turning to Strange just in time to avoid colliding with the man. Damn he was tall.

“Right,” laughed Pepper gaining a glare from the billionaire.

Okay, so maybe he did mention that they stayed awake talking until late last night… but that didn’t have to mean anything.

“Good morning, Doctor Strange,” smiled the ever polite redhead as she walked past them.

“Morning,” was all he mastered to answer as he made a cup appear out of thin air.

“Maybe we should get in too.”

“Right. Uh. We might have a situation,” stated the ever so eloquent doctor.

“I can see that.”

“No, I mean… Peter is here.”

“What?!”

And so again, he found him having a conversation with Loki.

“It all started when I went to ask her if it was true that she is genderfluid, as in the myths-“ was explaining Peter after being separated from said deity.

“She?” repeated Tony confused.

“Hey sister,” he heard Thor greeting as he entered the room, “everything ready?”

“You knew about that?” he asked turning towards the blond.

“Of course I do,” was his calm answer.

“Don’t worry Mr. Stark. When in doubt, you can always address her as ‘them’, okay?”

“I know that… And that’s besides the point! You aren’t supposed to be talking to them at all!”

“But-“

“But nothing. And one more thing, why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be at school?”

“There’s no time for that! Thanos is coming, remember? Of course I have to help!” said the kid, but given the glare he was getting from his mentor he had to add: “Also, it’s Saturday”

“He has a point there,” said Strange. Great.

“So I was wondering, how do your portals work exactly? Do you need to know the geographical location of the place or it’s something that you do just by recalling the place in your mind? I mean, I know you have done it before when you took us to the Sanctum, but there is not much known about Wakanda and I’m worried that-” entered Bruce while looking at some information on a tablet.

“I’ve already told you, Dr. Banner, I know what I need to do. You don’t need to worry about a thing,” sighed the doctor while Tony panicked.

“Wait, you are going to Wakanda?” questioned Peter with an excited look on his face.

“Oh no, he has the same look as you,” observed Strange unable to hold a chuckle.

“This is not funny! And no, you cannot come. This is no fieldtrip, kid. We are going there to help Vision and protect the Mind Stone in case Thanos appears.”

“I can help,” of course he was going to say that.

“Isn’t it great? Another mighty warrior joins our cause,” smiled Thor.

“He is not a ‘mighty warrior’, he’s a kid,” argued Tony beginning to regret once again the moment he himself decided to put a fourteen (or was it fifteen?) year old in a battlefield. What was he even thinking?

“A kid that can fight,” answered the blond back, “I saw it yesterday myself! Oh. And also we watched some leaked videos regarding your ‘Civil War’ with Banner last night.”

“You do have to admit he’s good.”

“Really, what’s going on with you?” he said turning towards Bruce with an incredulous face. They really needed to talk about that.

“Maybe he can help evacuating in case things go sideways?” offered Strange knowing that otherwise they would continue wasting time arguing.

“I promise I will be careful,” added Peter while making an effort not to go full puppy eyes on him. He was fairly certain that his mentor probably wouldn’t appreciate it.

Tony sighed, defeated.

“You must listen to every word I say, okay?” it wasn’t really a question, but still he gained an eager nod in response. “All right, kid...” he said walking towards him and making a small gesture with his palm over his shoulders as if he was naming a knight, “congratulations, you're an Avenger now,” he said hearing Thor cheer and soon everyone joined.

They shouldn’t be celebrating something like that.

“Gaining his kid’s approval, smart move,” he heard Loki commenting.

“What? The wizard?” was Thor clueless reply.

“Don’t be mad. Deep down you know is better to keep him close than to leave him to his own devices. At least this way you can keep an eye on him,” was the doctor trying to comfort him?

“I shouldn’t have told you about the suit hacking incident,” Strange simply smiled.

“You were so proud… Of course you were dying to tell me all about it,” he corrected without losing his stupid smirk.

 

***

 

Goodbyes were said and soon Thor left with his ‘Revengers’ while they were teleported by Strange to Wakanda.

“We come in peace,” announced Tony raising his hands when they got surrounded by an army of women who were pointing spears towards them as soon as they appeared.

“Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, I wasn’t expecting you for at least another couple of hours,” received them T’Challa walking towards them, telling the women something in their language that made them put down their weapons.

“Should we bow?” whispered Bruce nervously.

“Nah,” he said dismissively, greeting the king, “long time, no see.”

“Same goes to you,” smiled T’Challa shaking his hand, “and Dr. Banner, glad to finally meet you,” he added offering his hand.

“The honor is mine,” he babbled clearly excited, “I saw a documentary about what you have been doing since you opened up to the world and I must say, I am impressed with-”

“Is this going to take long?” called a younger woman.

“Gentlemen, let me introduce you to Shuri, my sister,” presented T’Challa smiling fondly.

“Well, you might have heard about Spiderman,” he said gesturing towards a surprisingly quiet Peter, “and this is Doctor Strange-”

“Tony,” he froze as soon as he heard his voice, but somehow managed to regain his composure.

“Rogers, I wasn’t expecting you to come…” he gave a quick glare towards Rhodey, who was standing right beside him. He could have mentioned he was going to be there when he called.

“Steve! I’m so surprised to see you…!” another traitor. Dammit, Bruce was a terrible liar, how didn’t he notice before?

“Hi, Bruce,” well, at least he wasn’t the only one feeling uncomfortable right now.

“Nat,” was all he was able to respond.

“This is awkward,” muttered Falcon, putting into words what everyone was probably feeling.

“Sorry to interrupt the introductions, but I believe that it would be in our best interests if we focused on the matter we have at our hands,” intervened Strange brushing his shoulder slightly, “where’s Vision?”

“Right to work… I like this guy,” smiled Shuri, “follow me to my lab”

“Wait, _your_ lab?” even with the mask on, Tony had a clear picture of what Peter’s face was as he said that. God, he was already following her like a puppy.

“Don’t laugh, Fairy Godmother,” he warned Strange as they followed the group while some last quick introductions were being made.

“I’m sorry, but you have to accept that there are certain aspects on which you cannot win against a teenage girl.”

“Tony, can we talk?” asked the Captain stopping them on their way.

“So now you want to talk?” how could a man of his size with that beard still be able to make the face of a kicked puppy?

“Please, I really want to properly apologize to you,” insisted the blond, “would you mind?” he added when he noticed that Strange wasn’t moving.

“Not at all,” the doctor stated coldly, but instead of leaving, he turned towards Tony. He could almost swear Strange was assessing if he would be okay and had to remind himself that that was probably because, at some point of the night before, they ended up discussing some events of the so-called “Civil War”. Given that the doctor commented how he thought they were both acting like morons, his reaction was probably result of him not wanting them to start another fight when Thanos and his Children were already causing enough trouble.

“I’m fine. Go ahead and make sure the kid doesn’t do anything stupid,” once again, he was marveled by how compliant the doctor could be when he wanted to.

“So… now the Avengers are open for magicians too?” well, his timid smile didn’t have the same effect as before. That was something.

“Get to the point, Rogers,” he demanded as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“When Bruce called me, the first thing I thought was that something had happened to you. Fortunately it didn’t, but it meant that I had to face a no less harsher truth. You didn’t want to talk with me. God. I can see in your face right now how you don’t even want to see me. And I know why. I hurt you.”

“Gee, I didn’t know you thought apologizing meant stating the obvious.”

“Yeah, sorry. What I’m trying to say is that for that to happen it would mean not only that I hurt physically, but also emotionally. You trusted me and I broke that trust. For that, I am sorry,” of all the possible scenarios that he had imagined, none of them included the man actually apologizing for that. So of course, he didn’t have an answer prepared for that. “If it serves of any consolation, this last couple of years have been… for lack of a better word, _rough._ ”

“They must have been, considering you were all fugitives,” was the only think he managed to say.

“And I know things can’t go back to what they were, but I hope that someday we can begin again?” This was so unfair.

“I’ll think about it,” he answered, trying without success to stop the smile that escaped from his lips, “now let’s go before they turn Vision into a Transformer”

“A what now?”

 

***

 

“The structure is polymorphic,” was explaining Shuri when they arrived.

“Right. We had to attach each neuron non-sequentially,” remembered Bruce with Tony nodding with a bitter taste on his mouth as the memory of Ultron’s creation came to his mind.

“Why didn't you just reprogram the synapses to work collectively?” what was he supposed to answer to Vision’s curious gaze? That he was too frightened by his girlfriend’s mind control tricks that he wasn’t thinking clearly?

“Because... we didn't think of it?” or he could do like Bruce and admit that the kid was smart.

“I'm sure you did your best,” she said mockingly.

“Do you want an internship at Stark Industries?” although he asked jokingly, he admitted that he wouldn’t mind at all if she accepted.

“I think I’m good. But I can always offer _you_ an internship if you want to learn something,” there was a soft gasp, and he didn’t have to be a wizard to know who it came from.

“Not a word, kid,” he warned Spiderman, who just raised his hands in surrender.

“Can you do it?” although he didn’t like her that much, it was touching seeing how worried Wanda was about Vision’s wellbeing.

“Yes, but there are more than 2 trillion neurons here. One misalignment could cause a cascade of circuit failures. It will take time, brother,” Shuri explained turning to her brother.

“How long?” Steve asked, and Tony could swear he heard Strange scoff.

“As long as you can give me,” was her response as the alarms began ringing.

“Something's entered the atmosphere,” informed a woman, Okoye, if he remembered correctly.  


Indeed, it wasn’t fun to almost have a heart attack in the middle of a battlefield when the allegedly gone murderer of your parents appeared out of the thin air, and armed to the teeth. However, his mind was soon wandering in a different direction. Rapidly, he scanned for Peter, hoping he had listened to him for once and left as soon as he finished his task of evacuating any civilian nearby.

“Tony! Are you okay?” he almost jumped when he felt his hand over his shoulder.

“Me? Yes, I’m… I’m fine,” he lied pathetically as Strange stared at him worriedly, “where’s the kid?”

“I teleported him back to the lab, he’s safe,” Tony could feel himself breath again, “maybe you should go too.”

“No, I’m fine,” he tried to smile, “someone has to protect you and that stupid rock you are so attached to,” if he believed or not the smile he was giving, he couldn’t tell, but Strange returned the gesture by letting a short laugh out.

“I’d really appreciate that.”

Although they were managing the Children of Thanos just fine, things definitely changed when the Revengers arrived in the company of a humanoid tree and a talking raccoon. However, soon enough they found out that during his time away Thanos had managed to get yet two other Infinity Stones, the Reality Stone and the Soul Stone.

At least the situation was serious enough to help him ignore the Winter Soldier.

But the distraction could only last so long.

“Didn’t it occur to you to mention Barnes was going to be here?!”

The dead were being counted and the wounded were being treated. The war was over and yet, Tony couldn’t taste anything remotely close victory.

“I did it to protect you!” refuted Steve, furious as if he was the one who had the right to feel offended.

“Tony’s not a child” signaled Strange matter-of-factly.

“You stay out of this! This is between Tony and I!”

“No, he’s right. I’m not a child” it was his time to interrupt him. If he could have Barnes by his side as they speak, so he would have Strange, “how could you do that? How do you even expect me to trust you if every time I do it you pull out shit like this?” he felt sick as the realization hit him, “was this the reason why you were trying so hard to be ‘nice’ with me? Or is there anything else you are hiding from me?”

Surprisingly or not, there was.

“We are engaged,” declared Barnes bluntly.

The last thing heard was the slamming of the door as he left the room.


	4. Stay (With You)

“I think I’m getting better at finding you,” commented Strange as he sat down next to the billionaire.

The sun was setting in Wakanda, probably one of the most beautiful views he had ever seen, and yet all he could focus on was the man beside him. The man for whom he had been willing to break his oath to protect the Time Stone in order to save his life. Of course, he could claim that it was because he foresaw how Iron Man was crucial to defeat Thanos, but he would be lying if he said there was nothing personal laying underneath. Hadn’t the kid disobeyed Tony’s orders and returned to help them, Thanos would have acquired his third Infinity Stone. And the terrifying part was that he wouldn’t regret it if that meant Tony was safe.

When did he move from finding the man and his antics unbearable to… somewhat endearing? He couldn’t tell. He did, however, remember how he used to find his arrogance annoying but worthy to match his own and how arguing with him was both infuriating and invigorating at the same time. He did also remember the first sparks of respect he felt towards him when he saw him fight. They weren’t result of his undeniable skill, but instead of how he put others first like a true leader, like the Ancient One used to do. And yet, there was also warmth inside him, like when he talked about his protégé, so contagious it left him feeling fondness towards the kid himself. Maybe that was the reason why he found himself admiring the man by the time the sun began to rise.

“Stalkerish, much?” managed to answer the billionaire.

“You wish,” he laughed dryly, if only Stark knew the mess he had turned him into.

However, the man remained quiet, apparently deciding he was done talking. Strange was used to silence, and even found it enjoyable more often than not, but he concluded that coming from Tony it was kind of disconcerting.

“I’m sorry,” he really didn’t know what else to say to make it better.

“Why?” Tony met his gaze, he looked tired and had a few bruises on his face. He still had to get checked by a doctor, but Strange could tell from plain sight that fortunately they were nothing serious… or he was very good at hiding it. It was difficult to read him.

“For the engagement,” was his blunt answer, “and your terrible taste in men in general,” he added, trying to lighten up the mood a bit.

Incredibly enough, Tony snorted.

“You think I care about that? I’m over Rogers. Actually, I think I’ve been over him for a long time,” he sighed, “what bothers me is that after all this time, he still does the same stupid thing. Am I really that untrustworthy? Was he fearing I would go crazy and try to kill his fiancé?”

“Nobody would have blamed you for that, you know?” of course that answer would gain a raised eyebrow, “and if you change your mind, I could always help you hide their bodies,” this time he got a full laugh.

“Their bodies?”

“If you are going to commit murder you might as well do it properly,” he answered with all the seriousness he could muster. It wasn’t very difficult.

“Well, I don’t think that will be necessary. For now, at least,” it was nice to see him smiling again. “He is not really your cup of tea, isn't he?”

“I have my reasons,” but he didn’t elaborate any further than that.

When the infamous Civil War happened, he concluded that both Tony Stark and Steve Rogers were childish and selfish men, who didn’t take their duty as Earth’s defenders seriously and fought against each other using brute force instead of sitting down and talking things over like two adults. However, just by spending a couple of hours with Tony, and especially after meeting Rogers, he was beginning to reconsider his original beliefs. The issue was to distinguish how much of his new judgment was based on the facts and how much was result of his blossoming friendship with Tony, if it could be called such…

“Of course you do, but don’t be so harsh on him,” he sighed, moving his eyes back to the sunset, “I mean, it’s not like I reacted very well when I first saw Cap… Guess it only makes sense he wanted to prepare the ground before throwing the bomb.”

“So you are telling me I worried about nothing? If I had known you were going to be that reasonable I wouldn’t have bothered coming all the way here,” he dramatized, deciding not to contradict him. As far as he knew, Tony was proud and didn’t like to be treated as a victim, no matter if that was indeed the case. At least for now, he would drop the subject.

Apparently, Tony noticed something was off, as he was once again looking at him, but in a way different from ever before, like if he was searching for something on his face.

“Don’t lie to yourself, we both know that’s not the reason you came,” Tony said, his eyes showing a hint of something, a hidden message he found himself wanting badly to decipher, “admit it, you just love to see my face,” the message was gone almost as soon as it appeared, being replaced by pure amusement.

But instead of asking, he just replied, “I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet of yours,” gaining a short laugh.

“Guess you’ll have to stay around to find it out,” maybe he was reading too much into that wink, but whatever it was, it sure was a start.

“I wouldn’t want anything else.”


	5. New Beginnings

_I wouldn’t want anything else._

It sounded so much like a promise, especially when said with that soft smile on his face, an expression that was very different from any other he had ever seen on the doctor. Maybe that was why it almost left him breathless.

“Now,” Strange said, suddenly standing up, giving the moment for finished, “we should probably visit the infirmary.”

“You go ahead, I’ll stay here,” Tony answered, turning back to the already twilight sky.

“I believe to remember you were held by Thanos like some kind of stress ball.”

“Worried about me, Sabrina?” he answered with a smirk on his face.

“If that makes you cooperate, then of course,” he admitted, although his sarcastic tone seemed to denote quite the opposite.

“Did _that_ actually work with any of your patients?”

“Usually, it only took my pretty face to convince them,” there was again, that confident wink. “However, given our current post-battle appearance, I would understand a decrease on its efficiency.”

“Talk about yourself, Elphaba. Stark’s charm can overcome many obstacles.”

“Including a crooked nose?” unfortunately for Tony, one of his hands betrayed him and moved towards his face.

Strange smiled in victory. He then bended a little and offered his hand to help him to stand up. Although he tried to look annoyed at such treatment, he secretly admitted that he kind of liked having him worrying about his well-being… even if it was probably as the doctor he once was.

“Will I get a lollipop afterwards, doc?”

“Only if you behave,” replied Strange grinning back.

Unfortunately, there was no lollypop afterwards. Instead, they were guided to their guestrooms where they could rest and recover for the victory party that was going to be held that same night. Apparently, Wakandan technology was enough to make sure there was no one suffering from major injuries and, most importantly, nobody could say “no” to the king and princess of Wakanda.

“I have to go back to the Sanctum, make sure everything is in order,” of course, Strange had to be the exception.

“And how do you plan to get there? There’s no transportation available and I’m almost certain you used most of your magical energy when fighting Thanos,” answered the ever so calm T’Challa. It was quite impressive how easily Wakandans seemed to accept the existence of “magic”… maybe they were hiding some tricks of their own, just as they used to do with their technology. One could never know.

“I just need to rest a couple of hours and I’ll be ready to go,” Strange decided stubbornly, leaving towards the guestrooms area.

Tony wanted to stop him, but what could he tell him? “ _You promised me you’d stay"_ was out of question. He wasn’t even sure if the doctor said what he said because he considered him a friend or simply because he saw him as a valuable acquaintance or somehow felt responsible for him. So instead, he decided to leave to his own room and, after calling Pepper, calming her down and summarizing the events to her as well as making sure May was informed about Peter’s whereabouts, he took a well-deserved nap. By the time he woke up, it was almost time for the party and he couldn’t help but wonder if sleep came so easily because of the exhausting day he had or whatever scented thingy they put on his pillow. Maybe both.

 

***

 

It was quite impressive how they were able to prepare everything in such a short notice. The doors opened to reveal a saloon decorated in a minimalistic yet elegant way, with a band playing music he’d never heard before and a large table with different dishes, some more familiar than others, probably Wakandan cuisine, along with smaller tables close by and a mini-bar.

After being greeted by T’Challa and the former queen, who were talking with Okoye along with another woman he hadn’t met before, he found out that most of the guests were already there. The first one recognized was Rhodey or, as he had decided to call him, “the traitor” (they will have to talk about it eventually). Unfortunately, he was already talking with Wilson and Rogers. Barnes was nowhere to be seen and he wasn’t sure if those were good or bad news. Instead of dwelling on that, he continued scanning the room until he found another familiar face. He almost went towards Bruce, but then noticed he was with Romanov, who seemed to be trying to convince him to join Vision and Maximoff on the dancefloor. An awkward situation he definitely wanted to avoid.

He finally gave up, although he wasn’t exactly sure of what he was looking for in the first place. Or maybe he was, but he decided he needed a drink before addressing that issue, and also, it would be useful in case the Winter Soldier finally decided to show up. So, with that in mind, he went towards the bar, where Thor, Valkyrie, Heimdall and (unfortunately) Loki were already settled. On his way, he couldn’t help overhearing Shuri and Peter’s conversation:

“So, are you planning to wear that mask all the party?” was asking a rather amused Shuri.

“Mr. Stark has a strict policy of keeping my identity secret, at least until I’m legally adult… I mean, until I…” Shuri laughed.

“So now I know that you are an American teenager… Hm. That reduces the list of suspects quite a lot,” she announced with fake seriousness, but apparently her playfulness was missed by the kid, who even with his mask was noticeably panicking. Fortunately, the girl evidently took pity on him, as she then added, “unless you’re hiding a British accent.”

“I wish! Girls love British accents,” he said dramatically. Tony decided that he will later have to sit down with the kid and give him some flirting advice.

“Oh, do we?” Incredibly enough, she seemed to find his clumsiness rather funny. “You will be quite surprised then…”

Maybe the kid didn’t need his help after all.

Once in the bar, he asked for his Scotch and was about to greet the Revengers when he noticed they were already way too submerged on their own discussion. So instead, he decided to drink a couple of glasses in silence and just relax, after all, he might as well deserve that.

“’Oh, I miss you too, Black Spider. And I love your blond hair, you’re probably the only one who can pull off something like that’,” was saying Loki with an amused smile on his face. It took Tony a couple of seconds to realize he was pretending to read Bruce’s lips, who was now dancing with Romanov.

“It’s Black Widow,” was Thor’s plain answer as he drank his own glass of beer empty.

“You have to admit she kicks ass,” commented Valkyrie drinking from her own glass with the same enthusiasm. Maybe that was something common among Asgardians.

“Hush now, Brunnhilde! You shouldn’t tell him that,” scolded Loki theatrically, “what we have here it’s obviously a matter of looks.”

“And how is that supposed to make him better?” asked an annoyed Valkyrie, or Brunnhilde, now he was confused.

“Oh, it wasn’t,” shrugged Loki, “I’m just stating the facts.”

“He likes her independent nature,” observed Heimdall thoughtfully.

“Also known as ‘she’s kickass’,” reminded Valkyrie triumphal.

“Okay, I’ll grant you that,” surrendered Loki, “the point is that there is no need to be petty about it.”

“I’m not petty,” retorted Thor automatically.

“Right… you’re just moping,” mocked Loki, “or brooding, if you prefer,” he added after getting a glare from Valkyrie.

“But really, what’s his story with this woman? Did they sleep together or something?”

“I… don’t think so? Or did they…? Stark!” he called turning towards him. Apparently, they did notice him after all. “It’s not really important, but do you happen to remember what kind of thing was going on between Banner and Romanoff?” although he was all smiles, Tony could almost swear he heard his voice going an octave higher.

“Um… I believe it got its wings cut before it could even take off,” and now he felt ashamed of not knowing what happened exactly between those two. What kind of best friend was he? Yes, once again he could argue that he was too busy focusing on Wanda’s induced vision and later on defeating Ultron, but still… he could have asked.

“What?” questioned a clearly confused Thor while Loki snickered, Valkyrie rolled her eyes and Heimdall, well, he just remained silent, “I’m asking about Banner and Romanoff’s affair not some… bird.”

“No, what I mean is that…!”

“Could I talk with you for a minute?” saved by the bell, or so he thought until he saw who was addressing him. “Please?”

Needless to say, that was probably one of the first times he was face to face with Barnes without him trying to potentially kill him.

“No,” he finished his half-started Scotch from one gulp, not really sure how much he had drank already, and stood up, ready to leave if it was necessary.

“I know you have the right to feel angry, but I need you to hear me out.”

Maybe it was because he wasn’t wearing his battle clothing nor carrying any visible weapon (unless you counted his prosthetic arm) and that made him look less intimidating, or maybe it was because he made the rookie mistake of drinking without having eaten anything since breakfast. Whatever it was, he found himself having a conversation with the Winter Soldier.

“Please do it fast before I finish my mental list of why this is a bad idea,” he shouldn’t make an scandal like earlier, at least, not in Peter’s presence.

“I’m sorry for what happened with your parents… I saw one of your father’s expositions once, he really was something...”

“I know, I know, you were brainwashed,” he interrupted, not wanting to relive that moment.

“Alright,” Barnes nodded. “Let’s leave it at that. However, I wasn’t brainwashed when we decided that even if I was cured I should be kept secret from the public. I needed to rest, we all agreed on that. But of course, I had to tell Steve and we started talking…”

“I really don’t want to know the details,” this was definitely torture, maybe Thanos did succeed killing him and this was hell.

“The point is we got engaged but didn’t tell you nor anyone who wasn’t from our closest circle because my return and recovery wasn’t supposed to be known… at least until things fixed up a little. But then, well, you know what happened-”

“Yes, an intergalactic thread was needed for you and Steve to gather the balls to tell me,” it took him a moment to recompose, but when he did he had a sad smile on his face.

“That’s not it. He never wanted to hurt you… Believe it or not, he cares about you. That’s actually the reason I want you to know that I hope we can someday be friends. Steve is impulsive, he always has been, and he really regrets how he handled things back then,” he sighed, taking a couple of minutes to decide whether to say what he was about to say next. “And for the record, he really liked you, you know? And probably still does,” he added with what seemed to be a smile.

“Maybe, but only when you are not around.” It actually felt good to say it.

“Any problem?” of course Rogers had to come to the rescue. He even had the gut of putting his arm over Barnes’ shoulders, pulling him closer to his chest as if he was the one in need of protection… and from no one else but him! Okay, to be fair, Barnes was trying to be nice and he evidently wasn’t, but after all that happened that day he wasn’t really in a mood for playing “nice”.

“Point proven,” fortunately, or not, before he could add his very polished “now fuck off, Rogers”, they were interrupted.

“Dr. Stark, your fiancée is here,” announced Strange arriving with Pepper, who looked quite comfortable holding from his arm, a scene he decided to ignore in favor of focusing on the words he said. He felt confused for a moment, until he remembered that he made public his so-called engagement with her. An engagement that was not only fake but also officially over.

“Ugh, don’t call me that, Merlin!” he answered making a face of disgust. Obviously for the title and not because how uncomfortably good those two looked together. “And what did you do with your wizard gear?” he asked noticing how his ugly robes were now replaced by a pretty neat suit.

“Wong forced me to change, apparently I should ‘represent the rest of the sorcerer community accordingly’,” he said with a dramatic sigh.

“It certainly does work in your favor,” smiled Pepper, “don’t you agree, Tony?” she said looking at him after managing to give both Rogers and Barnes a formal yet cold smile.

“Yes, I mean…” he really hated her for putting him in that situation. “Excuse us,” he pulling the doctor away from them, leaving Pepper to handle herself.

“You sure about that? She almost crushed my arm on our way here when she saw you talking with those two,” informed Strange with a concerned tone too exaggerated to be believable.

“Pepper knows better than anyone how to destroy your enemy without even starting a fight,” once that sentence left his lips, he realized how little sense it made.

“That it’s not surprising, considering she even said she could make it ‘look like an accident’…” he laughed, but then stopped suddenly. “You don’t seem so well,” commented the doctor stopping their tracks and forcing him to look at him, “and you smell quite intoxicated.”

“Do I? I don’t think you need to worry though, I know how to handle my alcohol.”

“Of course you do,” he answered rolling his eyes. “What’s the matter? No. Don’t answer that, it’s quite obvious why you are upset.”

“Oh, really? Does it has to do anything with your annoying… beard?”

“I will add that to the list of things you envy about me,” Strange replied nonchalantly, “but you wouldn’t drink that much out of envy, so we will just discard that, at least for now. Then, there is the fact that Rogers and Barnes are engaged now-”

“I already told you I don’t care-”

“-and how they lied and hide it from you,” Strange proceeded ignoring his disruption. “But we talked about it and when I left you, well, you seemed quite at ease.”

He could tell him how dealing with his parents murderer slash reason why he and Rogers weren’t in good terms anymore was more easy said than done, but instead he just answered, “why are you here? What happened to your ‘I have to go back to the Sanctum, make sure everything is in order’?”, Strange just smirked.

“I didn’t know my activities were of any of your concern,” Strange said smugly, “but if you really must know I did go to the Sanctum and then talking with Wong I had the idea, reason why I contacted Miss Potts, who then decided to use me as her personal mean of transportation.”

“She’s quite lovely,” he said graciously.

“Quite lovely, indeed,” Strange agreed with the same amount of politeness.

Neither of them were able to keep their straight face.

He didn’t really want to, but he then added, “just so you know, Pepper is single.”

“Oh, I know that. I just thought that introduction would be more dramatic,” Strange smiled.

“Wait, how do you know about that?”

“Well, that was basically her greeting when I went to see her. ‘Hello, Doctor Strange, I’m glad to see you. And no, I’m not really engaged with Tony’,” he quoted and Tony had to roll his eyes. She really wasn’t going to waste her time.

“Well, why are you still talking with me then?”

“What do you mean?” he frowned.

“I mean, that you and her…”

“Care if I interrupt you?” Pepper asked, apparently finished with whatever she had to say.

“Of course, meanwhile, I’ll get something to drink,” Strange made his great escape towards the bar.

“Oh my God, Tony, how can you be so dense?” she asked as soon as the doctor left. Tony Stark, renowned genius, with prizes and titles to back that up, was getting a look that made him wonder if all his life he had just been lucky.

“Huh?” so eloquent. Yup, definitely the genius of the century.

“Did he tell you why he’s here?”

“Why? Because Wong asked him to,” he said snapping out of his thoughts. “One would have thought that after the moving talk we had he wouldn’t decide to leave as soon as it was over.”

“That’s the lie you came up to? Seriously?” Pepper didn’t seem very pleased, glaring to Strange as he returned with their drinks. “So, you were forced to come?”

“I never said that, he just assumed,” Strange said in his defense. Quite a wise wizard to be scared of a woman in stilettos.

“Stephen wants to join the Avengers,” she declared taking her glass of champagne from his hands. “He just left because he had to ask for permission from his wizard team to have a second job as Earth defender.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, ‘oh’,” Strange echoed, “I didn’t tell you that for you to spoil it.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t going to let you pull an act and make Tony beg you to join the team.”

“I wasn’t going to beg,” protested Tony gaining a raised eyebrow as well as an amused smile.

“Don’t laugh Strange, you’re still on probation,” she warned noticing she wasn’t the only one having fun with the situation.

“But the Avengers are over…”

“New Avengers, Young Avengers, Avengers 2.0… we can later look for a name that doesn’t have copyright issues,” said Pepper dismissively. “You already reestablished the compound, and I heard from a little bird that Thor and Bruce were expecting to join the team… of course, if you accepted other new recruits,” she gave a quick look towards the bar and smiled to the Revengers who raised their glasses approvingly, one of them adding an extra wink. “And of course, Rhodey and Vision are on board… and like it or not, the kid too once he finds out.”

“But what about our merry-go-lucky couple and their kids?” he said referring to the deserting Avengers.

“They are still fugitives, they should take care of that before joining, don’t you think?” the world may think he was the genius, but it was impossible for him to imagine how far he would have gone without her.

“Is it a good moment to remind you about Fury’s message regarding certain Captain Marvel?” of course FRIDAY was going to choose that moment to finish connecting and speak up from his earbud.

“Okay, okay… I’ll think about it,” he said, the smile on his face already betraying him.

“That was supposed to be my line,” Strange reminded him with an offended tone.

“What did I tell you? You don’t have to lie…”

“Right, I just love to see your face,” okay, one thing was saying it and another very different was hearing _him_ say it. Specially so serious, it almost sounded like if it was true.

“Tony, you are drooling,” whispered Pepper as she walked past him on her way towards the bar to greet their new allies.

“Thank you, Stephen,” he said once she left. Given his expression, he definitely caught the doctor by surprise. He chuckled, “don’t let it go to your head."

“Too late for that,” Strange finally recomposed. “May I ask why are you thanking me, exactly?”

“For giving me a chance, it’s been a while,” he smiled.

“Then, it’s been a pleasure, Tony,” Strange answered, returning the gesture.

Maybe things weren’t so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :D


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